1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cold storage remains system, and more particularly, to a portable remains cooling system having a series of storage pouches with a cold fluid tubing network connected to a manifold system and a chiller for cycling cold fluid through the tubing network to maintain a desired temperature in the storage pouches.
2) Description of Related Art
In dealing with mass casualty situations, maintaining remains in a refrigerated condition for an extended period of time presents substantial logistical concerns. For example, in the U.S. Military, the standards for dealing with human remains require 40 to 60 pounds of ice per remains to maintain the remains at a chilled temperature for approximately 10 hours. In a war time setting when casualties are high, this creates a serious issue of providing sufficient ice to properly handle the remains in the field and through transport to a processing facility, such as a mortuary.
In some field situation, refrigerated tractor trailers have been used to temporarily house remains. The portability of this arrangement is extremely limited due to practical matters of moving such a large trailer around and providing sufficient power to refrigerate the entire trailer to a sufficiently low near freezing temperature. Additionally, such large refrigerated systems take time to set up and are completely impractical in battlefield situations where locations are constantly changing and immediate temporary storage and cooling of the remains is required, for example, when remains are being transported from the front lines to a casualty collection point. Further, in situations where biological or chemical contamination is present, it is desired to control the remains in individual sealed containers to prevent cross-contamination with other remains, as well as to prevent infection or exposure for those dealing with the remains.
The prior art is replete with various human remains cooling systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,290 (Hogan) discloses a portable container able to provide refrigeration for a human corpse. The container includes an outer shell, a lining and a conduit system of tubes and hoses. A freezable liquid is released from reservoirs and flows through the connecting hoses into the flow tubes. The freezable liquid is absorbed into the container lining and frozen. The liquid is not re-circulated through the flow tubes and a chiller system to maintain a constant temperature.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,181 (Takasugi) shows a method of keeping a cadaver at a low temperature in a casket that includes supplying a liquefied cooling gas to the cooling chamber, which is transformed into a precipitate within the casket interior. The liquid is not re-circulated through flow tubes and a chiller system to maintain a constant temperature.
U.S. Pat. No. 0,311,764 (Johnson) shows a single corpse cooler and preserver that circulates cool gas through pipes in a casket and then vents the spent gas. There is no recirculation of the gas.
U.S. Publication No. 2004/0252918 A1 (Yu et al.) shows a body bag that includes an outer bag case and an inner bag case. Air is extracted from the bag by vacuum means. No re-circulating cooling system is disclosed to maintain the temperature inside the body bag.
Japanese Publication No. 2006346428 (Omori) shows a low-temperature cold reserving body storage bag that includes a pipeline for circulating a cooling fluid. There is no disclosure of a manifold system for circulating fluid to multiple storage bags, or that the system is adaptable to meeting the needs of a mass casualty situation.
Japanese Publication No. 409286701 A (Aoyanagi) shows injecting a liquefied gas into a bag for rapidly cooling a corpse.
Japanese Publication No. 409253141 A (Aoyanagi) shows a dead body housing storing bag that includes means for introducing a cold air into the bag and a return pipe. There is no disclosure of a manifold system for circulating fluid to multiple storage bags, or that the system is adaptable to meeting the needs of a mass casualty situation.
French Application No. 2 539 620 (Perroud et al.) shows an envelope for covering a body. The inside surface of the envelope is cooled by a network of flexible tubes through which a refrigerating medium flows. There is no disclosure of a manifold system for circulating fluid to multiple storage bags, or that the system is adaptable to meeting the needs of a mass casualty situation.
While the idea of providing cold storage for human remains is clearly known, the prior art simply has not adequately addressed the problems associated with quickly preserving mass casualties in a field environment, such as on a battlefield. The prior art does not address the concerns of portability and scalability needed in dealing with cold storage of human remains systems for mass casualty situations where biological or chemical contamination may be present. The prior art does not adequately address the logistical concerns of providing acceptable levels of rapid cooling and storage for remains in the field, and for the transport of those remains while maintaining a required level of cooling. Thus, there is a need to address the logistical concerns for a portable remains cooling system able to support numerous casualties in individual containers.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cold storage remains system which utilizes a series of individual storage pouches having a cold fluid tubing network connected to a manifold system with a chiller for cycling cold fluid through the tubing network to maintain a desired temperature in the storage pouches.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a portable cold storage remains system for dealing with mass casualties in the field.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a scalable cold storage remains system that can be adapted to accommodate changing numbers of remains for individual storage in a field environment.